Russert and McNeil - Career of former built on pioneering work of latter

When television news and commentary were still in their infancy, a bright young reporter for Time magazine became one of that media's first congressional correspondents. Neil McNeil also was a founding member of Public TV's popular "Washington Week in Review."

McNeil died last week at 85, only a few days before the untimely death of Tim Russert of NBC, one of those who benefited from his pioneering efforts to foster sound, sane and unbiased public affairs analysis on television. Only "Neil McNeil Reports From Washington" and then "Washington Week" and Lawrence Spivak's "Meet the Press," to which Russert fell heir, made much effort to bring more than news headlines to its viewers.

Unlike Russert, a lawyer who derived his expertise from several years as a political spokesman and operative, McNeil's origins were strictly journalistic. His father was a respected member of the staff of The New York Times. He joined Time in 1958, where during 30 years of reporting he became perhaps the leading expert on Congress.

Those are the bare-bones of a distinguished career set out in no more than four or five paragraphs in the national press — a sharp and annoying contrast to the explosion of front-page accolades for Russert.

That's understandable, given the difference in their ages. Russert, 58, was at the peak of his career. The hyperbole about his rank in the pantheon of journalistic greats can be excused by the shock of his sudden death. Russert had remodeled Spivak's old NBC show into a colorful and entertaining weekly tableau of politics and analysis. He was excellent at what he did.

McNeil had long faded into that "Remember him?" category of past reporting greats. The real story of McNeil is far more complex than his limited obituaries. He was among the most dedicated and accessible members of a print craft that has its own share of snobs. He became the man to go to for insight into the Byzantine machinations of Congress.

On more than one occasion he provided a young reporter the edge on a breaking story with a solid tip.

McNeil authored a definitive history of the U.S. House of Representatives and a biography of one of the most compelling figures in Congress, Sen. Everett McKinley Dirksen of Illinois. They weren't bestsellers like Russert's book about his father, but they are indispensable for those who study the ins and outs of the people's parliament with an eye to predicting the future with any degree of certainty.

Had the Gridiron Club of Washington's "elite" print correspondents permitted the election of magazine reporters, he would have become the first. Many years later that rule and one barring TV correspondents were overturned and Russert became the first broadcast member of the 60-person organization.

It is sad to lose two such important figures in the increasingly turbulent world of communication. Soon we will be exchanging the noble title "reporter" for "blogger." Neither of these men fits that rather disgusting appellation. But in remembering Russert we should not overlook the Neil McNeils who paved the way.